Playing a Wizard, curious to how this works. I had assumed that perhaps it worked one way, but have found evidence that my assumption is likely wrong.
The first DF Wizard spell I ever was interested in was Defending Bone, which since it was a Pharasma-granted spell I assumed that essentially meant you can't have it unless you worship Pharasma, and thus require the DF holy symbol of Pharasma even if you're a wizard in order to cast the spell.
Then while looking through some spell from Champions of Purity (researching Good-tagged spells), I stumbled onto Touch of Mercy, which isn't deity-specific but does still have a DF component, without a M alternative.
So it begs the question, what happens if a Wizard spell has a DF component? Does it matter? Can they take spells associated with any deity without worry because they're blasphemous dabblers who collect knowledge?
At a quick glance it looks like you need the divine focus. You can get a wooden DF for 0gp i think though, so it shouldn't hurt much (maybe it's 1gp and it has 0 weight, something like that I can't remember).
My GM has stated that the ruling for DF components specifically lists the classes that only need to follow it. Which means wizards are excluded.
Maybe your GM has a similar house rule?
Divine Focus (DF): A divine focus component is an item of spiritual significance. The divine focus for a cleric or a paladin is a holy symbol appropriate to the character's faith. The divine focus for a druid or a ranger is a sprig of holly, or some other sacred plant.
A divine focus does not have to by a holy symbol or even associated with a deity. Certain classes have further definitions on what they use as a divine focus. Wizards do not have any requirements as to what constitutes a divine focus. What counts as a divine focus for a wizard is going to depend on the individual wizard. If the wizard is a devout worshiper of a deity, the deity’s holy symbol would probably be appropriate. If the wizard follows a philosophy, what constitutes a holy symbol will be defined by the philosophy.
The fact that a spell has a divine focus does not impose any limits to who can use the spell, unless the spell itself has further restriction in its description. Normally any spell caster can learn any spell that is on their spell list. Some classes may have further restriction, like a cleric not being able to use a spell of an alignment oppose to their deity’s, but that is a restriction on the class, not the spell. A wizards spell with a divine focus is not a divine spell, it is still an arcane spell.
This is where the confusion comes from. Most spells on both divine and arcane lists tend to write it as F/DF or M/DF depending on the spell, which is the obvious that a divine caster can use their divine focus instead of a component pouch. The two spells I mentioned lack the /, it's just DF.
I was hoping for a solid answer XD but it looks like there isn't really one. Some say homebrew, others ignore it, further yet one could consider the 0 gp symbol covered by a component pouch.
Divine Focus (DF): A divine focus component is an item of spiritual significance. The divine focus for a cleric or a paladin is a holy symbol appropriate to the character's faith. The divine focus for a druid or a ranger is a sprig of holly, or some other sacred plant.
The DF is an item of spiritual significance. This item is spelled out for clerics, paladins, and druids. It may also be defined by other divine classes in their description. What is of spiritual significance to a wizard is roleplay.
As a GM, I would say they need the item, and it must be of sufficient value if the DF has a value listed. Otherwise, it could be anything, say a crumpled letter from a former master recommending entry to an academy because it means so much to the wizard even later in life.
/cevah